about it.” He paused. “I’ll contact our trauma specialist for a consult and, if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to be available for an interview, as well.”
“I’ll do what I can to help,” he said, unsure if he was the right person for the task.
Dr. Burt deposited Austin in a small office and then left, saying he’d return soon. The doctor’s words sent all of Austin’s warning flags flying at high altitude.
A few minutes passed before the door opened again and a white-haired doctor stepped inside.
“I’m Dr. Wade.” This doctor was a little shorter than Dr. Burt with a few more wrinkles.
The interview didn’t last as long as Austin’s cup of coffee.
“I’d like to confer with my colleague before making a recommendation,” he said, pausing at the door.
Austin thanked him and waited.
Three hours later, Dr. Burt stepped inside the room. “My shift is almost over but I wanted to speak to you personally before I left.”
“I appreciate it,” Austin said.
“Your wife is in recovery and doing well. After speaking to her, it’s safe to say that she’s suffering memory loss from the trauma her head received,” the doctor began, taking a seat across from Austin. “The blow was severe enough to cause some swelling to the brain.”
“Sounds serious,” Austin said, tamping down his fear that the doctor was about to deliver life-changing news.
“We’ll have to monitor her for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours but I’m hopeful for a positive outcome given her otherwise strong physical condition,” Dr. Burt said.
“And what about her memory?” Austin asked.
“That’s where it gets complicated. There are two basic types of amnesia, retrograde and anterograde,” Dr. Burt started. He leaned forward and touched the tips of his fingers together. “Amnesia is simple. We all know what that means. We had a memory once and now it’s gone.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis. “The memory is lost.”
Straightforward enough. Austin nodded his understanding.
“Anterograde amnesia erases short-term memories following an accident or trauma and a good part of that is due to injury to the brain itself. Chemicals shift and the balance is disturbed. Once that brain chemistry normalizes, systems work again.” He folded his fingers together. “Had a guy released last week who’d spent four months here but can’t recall anything before the last week of his stay.”
“Will those memories come back for him?” Austin asked after taking a sip of coffee that he’d refilled prior to the doctor entering the room.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Dr. Burt made a seesaw effect with outstretched arms. “I’ve seen it go both ways.
“With retrograde amnesia, like in your wife’s case—” he paused “—a patient loses memories of events before the injury. For some, the loss will cover a few minutes. Others can lose weeks, months or even years of their lives. I’ve personally witnessed both ends of the spectrum.”
“What about Maria?” Austin asked, absorbing the news. His first thought was that the only reason she’d asked for him was because she didn’t remember that she’d been the one to walk away in the first place. And what did any of that mean for their relationship? Was he supposed to forget the fact that she’d served him with divorce papers and pretend like nothing was wrong?
“It’s difficult to say at this point. Memories have a tendency to return like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. They’ll get bits here and there with no rhyme or reason,” Dr. Burt said.
“Is it a permanent condition? Can it come and go?” Austin asked. What he knew about amnesia could fill his coffee cup and nothing more. And most of that knowledge came from him or one of his brothers suffering from a concussion in childhood.
“Many people regain much of what they’ve lost, if not all. For some, they never retrieve that information. The brain is complicated and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.” Dr. Burt’s shoulders relaxed. He maintained soft eye contact, blinking and looking away as he recalled information. Everything about the man’s posture communicated compassion. “If it’s any consolation, we’ve observed a direct correlation between recovery of the head injury and return of memories. The better the healing, the more long-term memories tend to come back.”
“I’m guessing you can’t tell me when that will happen,” Austin said.
“Not with any degree of confidence,” the doctor admitted. “Generally speaking, the less severe the head injury, the smaller the degree of associated retrograde amnesia. From evaluating her memory versus the trauma to her head, I’d guess that her memories could return fairly soon. She’s in excellent physical condition and that always aids recovery. Her head sustained a fair amount of trauma both from the blunt force instrument and then when she fell after the initial blow. Indications are that she collided hard with the concrete. That being said, she’s young and strong. Both of those factors weigh in. The better she takes care of herself in recovery, the more hopeful I am.”
“Will this affect her ability to do her job?” Austin asked.
“She won’t be able to go back to work without medical clearance,” Dr. Burt said. “We’ll recommend follow-up treatment as part of her rehabilitation plan.”
“What about forcing reality? Can I tell her the truth about our life?” he asked.
“That’s up to you.” He clasped his hands.
“She might not want to see me when she remembers the past,” Austin admitted.
“This has to be a difficult situation for you. If you care about her, my advice is to take it easy. Making memories flood back before the brain can handle them can cause even more distress and delay her progress,” Dr. Burt stated. “I’m sorry. I’m sure that’s not news you wanted to hear.”
Austin needed to ask another question. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer except that experience had taught him that dodging a problem usually made it worse. That was especially true with his marriage. He would have to face the music that she was involved with another man at some point. “She didn’t mention wanting to see anyone else, did she?”
“No.” Dr. Burt looked Austin square in the eye. “It seems like your situation is—” the doctor searched the white floor tile like the answer might be found there “—complicated. No one would blame you for walking away. You signed the paperwork consenting treatment, so you’ve done your part. She’ll likely recover her memory in a few days, possibly weeks, and if there’s someone else in her life, then you might not want to be around for the moment she remembers him and wants him to be the one to help her.”
The man had a point.
“Thanks for the honesty and for everything you’ve done for her,” Austin said, knowing full well that he couldn’t walk away until he knew that Maria would be okay. He hadn’t expected the call to come in the first place. He hadn’t expected to spend the next two nights at a bedside vigil, pretending to be something they were not, a happy couple. And least of all, he hadn’t expected to be the one taking her to her apartment to settle in, a place he’d never set foot in—the place where she’d moved to get away from him.
But there he was, doing it all the same.
Maria was smart, athletic and strong. Seeing her in a hospital bed, helpless, with tubes sticking out of her had been a blow that had knocked Austin back a few steps. Divorce or not, he needed to see her get back on her feet.
There was another kink. Even though she’d been cleared of her head injury, she made no progress on regaining her memories. She didn’t remember the fact that they were separated let alone on the verge of divorce. Austin had expected her fiancé to drop by at some point during the hospital